The Blind Swine with guest musicians Sally Weisenberg and Don Berbaum

PASSWORD ALERT for August 9th

Don’t share this with anyone!! Come around the back door and drop the words “Tin Lizzy.”

The Western Illinois Museum’s Blind Swine Speakeasy returns to give you a roaring good time. Starting on Friday, August 9, 2024, the speakeasy will be open on the second and fourth Fridays through October, transforming the Museum’s historic building into an intimate setting where visitors can step back in time to the days of Prohibition.

Guests will enjoy live music by the area’s best entertainers, engage in fun activities, and savor beverages that flow legally. The soulful sounds of musicians Sally Weisenberg and Don Berbaum will set the tone for the re-opening night. Sally’s vocals and keyboard, along with Don’s guitar and harmonica, will provide the perfect soundtrack for celebrating the building’s history as the former home of Macomb Motors.

The evening will feature activities that take guests on a journey through the ingenuity of the automobile age, highlighting how America and Macomb, Illinois, reimagined the road during the Roaring Twenties and beyond. Highlights include photo stations with a historic car and a modern electric car from Woodrum Ford, a screening of the silent film The First Auto (1927), and more.

The bar opens and activities will kick off at 5:30 pm followed by two sets of live music at 6:30 and 7:30 pm. Those “in the know” will enter through the back door, where they’ll be asked for the password to enter and to “slip us a fin” (a suggested $5 donation for the band).

This program is funded in part by grants from the Illinois Arts Council and the Illinois Humanities Council.

The Western Illinois Museum is a non-profit organization dedicated to celebrating and nurturing the history, culture, and traditions of McDonough County. As a vibrant community hub, the Museum features exhibits, an open collection area, lectures, music, and other programs in a historic building. The Museum is located at 201 S. Lafayette Street, one block south of Macomb’s Courthouse Square, and is fully accessible.

For further information, call 309-837-2750, text 309-837-2613, or email info@wimuseum.org.

About the Musicians
Sally Weisenburg and Don Berbaum have been a team, both personally and musically since the mid-70s. Sally is from the St. Louis area but moved to Peoria, Illinois, in 1976 to join Don’s band. The pair now live near Rushville, Illinois, and play blues, soul, jazz, country, standards, rock, Latin, and surf music, including a variety of originals. Sally’s spectacular vocals are always the focal point backed by the inspirational coloring of Don’s playing on guitar and harmonica and Sally’s own fine keyboard and keyboard bass playing to create a soulful sound.

Themes and Musicians in 2024 The Blind Swine series

• Friday, August 9th: Reimagining the Road: American Ingenuity in the Age of the Automobile with music by Sally & Don
• Friday, August 23rd: A Rhythm Migrates North with music by John Mindeman’s Red Peppers Ragtime Ensemble
• Friday, September 13th: Macomb Takes Flight! with music by Brazilian performers José Gobbo and Ana Oliveira
• Friday, September 27th: The Irish, Italians, and Bohunks: Immigration in the 1920s with music by the Irish band Turas
• Friday, October 11th: The New Macomb Woman: Work, Fitness, and Beauty Ideals of the 1920s with music by EmiSunshine
• Friday, October 25th: What’s Playing at the Illinois Theater? Radio & Film of the Prohibition Era with music by Gina DeGregorio and Paul Asaro